A Little Sleepy (the drabble list thingy?)
A Little Sleepy: Your muse falling asleep on my muse.
Slowly smoke and light rose from the countless pyres in Idris to the sky, taking the souls of people they all knew with them. Alec had stopped pretending to still be able to stand soon after they spoke the names of those they lost. He didn’t collapse, but he sat down, slowly as if every bone ached. And it was the case. The battle sat in his bones, making him ache all over, not just physically.
One by one his friends joined him on the floor. Magnus and him sat back to back, Izzy was tucked under his arm as they watched the smoke rise and clear off. So many shadowhunters and downworlders were lost. It didn’t feel like victory. It felt like loss. They lost people they grew up with, friends they made along the way. They were forced to kill allies and friends of their allies in a war they so desperately tried to stop, tried to avoid. And yet, at the end of it, nobody cared if the body belonged to shadowhunter or downworlder, all were paid the same respect. They watched smoke and light of the shadowhunters rise to the sky, showing once more that at the end of things they were alike.
Clary and Jace soon joined them. They didn’t sit down. Having fought on a different front, they longed for a sense of peace, just like the three already sitting there.
“Let’s go.” Alec helped Izzy up, keeping her pressed against her, Magnus slipping under his other arm as they walked towards the portal Magnus created while walking, albeit unsteadily. The portal took them to Magnus’ apartment, a place all of them associated at least safety with. Magnus brought healing, shelter, advice and warmth to them. He cared about all of them. To Alec it was home now, one of his homes. He knew come morning all of them would break down. But tonight they needed to be close. Tonight they lost too much.
For just a moment, Magnus stopped Alec. He reached for his forehead, wanting to heal a cut, but Alec stopped him with an almost soft smile. “It’s okay. I’ll heal.” His forehead would. Tomorrow grief would hit him full force, all of them probably. He was wrong. Izzy and Clary broke out in tears. All three men rushed to them, held them in a hug that would have been awkward, had it not been a situation like that. They held each other tightly until tears subsided and the two girls let go of the tension. And even then Alec never let go of Izzy. He couldn’t let go of her, because otherwise he knew he would start to shake and crumple himself. It took all his strength and holding on to Izzy to keep it together just for that night. Eventually they lay down, still clinging to each other. Alec felt his sister fall asleep wrapped in his arms, it went from her smaller body shaking with tears to relaxing in his arms. And even Alec couldn’t bring himself to move anymore. Magnus’ rug was soft and warm.
Moments later Clary joined them on the floor. She wrapped her arms around Izzy. Magnus lay down behind Alec, wrapping his arms around him as Jace lay down behind Clary. The parabatai reached over the girls, hands clasping, holding on to each other as well as the girls. Seeking contact with Magnus, too, Alec moved a leg back, between his boyfriends legs, entangling him with all his loved ones.
They lay there, one by one tired, safe in each others arms, Alec thought they might just make it. They might just survive this pain and grief. “I love you guys...” Alec whispered. Each of them in a different way. They could lose each other way too fast and way too easily. He just had to say it. Giving his sleeping sister a kiss on the forehead, he gave up resisting the pull of sleep. Alec closed his eyes, knowing tonight he would be safe.
